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Barry McBee, J.D.

Barry McBee

Barry McBee began his role as vice chancellor for governmental relations in the University of Texas System in June 2006. He was named vice chancellor and chief governmental relations officer in 2010, when oversight of the UT System’s federal office in Washington, D.C. was added to his responsibilities.

Prior to joining the UT System, he was first assistant attorney general, the agency's chief administrator under Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott.

McBee served as chief of staff for Rick Perry in both the Governor's and the Lt. Governor's offices. He also served as deputy commissioner of agriculture and was appointed by then-Governor George W. Bush to the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, where he served as chairman.

McBee served as a special assistant to the secretary of the cabinet of President George H. W. Bush. In the private sector he was a partner at Bracewell & Patterson LLP (now Bracewell & Giuliani) in Austin and an oil and gas and real estate attorney as an associate and partner at the Dallas office of Thompson & Knight LLP.

As vice chancellor and chief governmental relations officer, McBee represents the Board of Regents and the UT System in its interactions with the Texas Legislature and executive branch offices and agencies.

McBee holds a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Oklahoma and a law degree from Southern Methodist University.

McBee and his wife, Susanna, are the parents of two Longhorns: Ross, a Plan II and biology graduate, now pursuing a Ph.D. at Columbia University, and JD, a senior public relations major.

McBee serves on the board of directors of Regents School of Austin, a private classical Christian school that his sons attended, and as a ruling elder and trustee at Redeemer Presbyterian Church.